Under certain conditions (see VII, 7) any third party who proves that proceedings for infringement of the opposed patent have been instituted against him or that the proprietor of the patent has requested him to cease alleged infringement of the patent and that he has instituted proceedings for a court ruling that he is not infringing the patent may, after the opposition period has expired, intervene in the opposition proceedings. Once the notice of intervention has been filed in good time and in due form, the intervention is to be treated as an opposition (see IV, 5.6). For accelerated processing of oppositions on request, see E-VIII, 4.